


Connolly the Cutie

by Hawkscape



Series: Redtail Tales [5]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Crushes, Crying, Drinking, Flowers, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Holding Hands, Hugs, Nerdiness, Other, Smoking, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-18 23:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5946613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkscape/pseuds/Hawkscape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After realizing their feelings for the shy radio man, Redtail struggles with how they should proceed. Their companions attempt to help, but will they succeed in their quest?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When Red Realizes They Are In Trouble

Ever since discovering Kent Connolly and his enthusiasm for pre-war pop culture, Redtail couldn't stay away. Every time they stopped by Goodneighbor they made it a point to visit his radio station and talk for as long as their current companion could stand. It had been slightly awkward after the kidnapping incident, but when they told Kent how much the Silver Shroud meant to not only them and to everyone in the wasteland, their acquaintance had been restored. The first few visits had come with a certain amount of hesitance, but Kent's loneliness mixed with Red's charisma soon transformed them into great friends. Their friendship took a turn for something else however, when Red stumbled across some old episodes of the Silver Shroud while scavenging in a pre-war radio station. It was hard to get to and locked behind some tricky mechanisms, but they knew it was all worth it when they found the reels in a desk drawer. They were nearly speechless as they motioned frantically for Hancock to look. The Mayor had looked funnily at them before scratching his head. “So I havta ask, are you really this excited about the Silver Shroud or is it more the Shroud's company?” 

The cowboy furrowed their brow slightly before responding. “You mean Kent?” They turned back to the desk and began carefully loading the reels into their backpack. “'Course I like 'em. Their a sweet guy and fun to talk to. I like the Silver Shroud plenty, but I'm not gonna deny that talking with Kent about it makes it more fun.” 

Hancock leaned over their shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows despite not having any. “More fun, eh?” 

Red shoved him with their shoulder as they turned to walk out of the office door. “Get your mind outa the gutter, Mister Mayor.” 

Hancock followed them out of the room chuckling. “You should know by now that my mind lives in the gutter.” 

The partners were soon overtaken by more hijinks and adventure in the Commonwealth and no more was thought about the conversation until they got back to Goodneighbor. Hancock noticed Red going towards the makeshift radio station and decided to bow out instead of enduring hours of reminiscing about dusty pop culture he didn't much care about. “Ehhh, I think I'll just head to The Rail for a while. Let's meet back at the Statehouse later.” Hancock shot a lecherous smile towards his partner. “Unless you decide to stay the night.” 

Red let out a snort. “Yeah, right.” They dug into their pack and threw a sack of caps at their companion. “Don't spend it all in one place, match maker.” Hancock tipped his hat in appreciation and they headed their separate ways. 

Red rushed into Kent's building and up the steps in record time. They couldn't wait to give him his present. They burst into his room with perhaps a little to much enthusiasm, slamming the ancient door, banging it against the wall. “KENT!” 

This large and sudden outburst unfortunately jolted the radio man out of the nap he was taking in his desk chair. “Ah! Wha...?” He turned around to see his friend and stood up sharply. “R-red? Is something wrong? What happened?” He rubbed his eyes as stress clouded his features. 

The cowboy's face softened as they tried to put their friend at ease. “No, no, nothing...everything's fine. Sorry, uh, what time is it?” They looked at their pip-boy. Two in the morning. Ah. “Oh, that time. I'm sorry, do you want me to go?” The cowboy started backing towards the door as their face heated up. Why did their charm always seem to fail them at the worst moments? “I should probably go. I'll come back in about six hours at least.” 

They turned to go but they were stopped by a much less anxious Kent. “Wait!” The sharpness of the statement made them both stop before the ghoul cleared his throat. “Well, I mean, you should probably rest here for at least a little bit. You look like you just got out of the Wasteland.” Red looked down at themselves and they were indeed caked in dust. Their cheeks heated up once again. They didn't care about how they looked in front of Kent before, but it suddenly bothered them. 

They coughed slightly before saying anything. “Yeah, well, I did b-but I was um...” Red had completely forgotten why they had come here. They picked at the mud on their pants while desperately trying to wrack their brain. They finally remembered and started. “Oh yeah! I have something for you! One second!” The excitement they had when running through the door returned full force. Kent looked at them quizzically as they swung their large pack onto the floor with a loud thunk. The ghoul jumped slightly at the noise, but Red didn't notice and started rummaging in their pack. “Where did I put it? I know it's in here, I quadruple checked...oh yeah!” They reached over to one of the smaller front pockets of the pack. “I put them in here so they wouldn't get crushed.” They looked up at Kent over their glasses from where they were bent over and waved a hand at him. “Close your eyes, close your eyes!” 

Kent hesitated slightly before complying and hoping the present wasn't...alive. He heard some more shuffling and clanking before his friend spoke again. “Okay, open your eyes!” Kent opened his eyes to the face of Redtail before he slowly lowered them to what they were holding up. They looked to be...audio reels? Were they blank? Well, that was kind of them. He always needed extras to make backups on. He was about to give a sincere 'thank you', before he spotted one of the labels on the side of the tins. 'SS: Ep 5-7' 

Kent's eyes lit up as he looked up carefully at Red who was beaming in excitement. “Are these...?” The cowboys head nodded so hard it stood a good chance of falling off. 

“Yeah! I don't know if you have these episodes already, but I figured that I might as well...” 

Kent interrupted them as he gingerly picked up one of the canisters as if it would disintegrate at his touch. “N-no I only...I was always missing some of the first season. They were the oldest obviously and some of them were destroyed even before the war b-becouse people didn't realize how much the series would take off. I thought that I had all the reels that survived.” Kent looked up at his gift giver with a mixture off awe and wonder. “H-h-how did you find these? They look great. I can't believe...these episodes...I thought they were gone forever.” 

Red laughed slightly to relieve some of their nervous energy. They hadn't expected him to like them that much. “Well, I mean, I was just scouting around and me and Hancock came across this radio station and yeah...” 

It was now Kent's turn twitch around nervously. “Oh, I need to back these up immediately.” He looked around his workshop before his eyes came to rest on his equipment bench and the various materials scattered on it. “Ah, I can use these reels...” He suddenly straightened up and turned to Red. “We could make a special event of it. 'The Lost Episodes', how about that?” Red didn't think they had ever seen Kent this enigmatic before. He finished setting up the recording equipment and put the first reel on to backup before turning around and wringing his hands, still filled with energy. He came to stand in front of Red again who had just been fondly watching him flit around the room. “I-...thank you. Thank you so much for this. I-I-I don't know how...” He stood for a second. seeming to contemplate something. He opened and closed his hands a few times before he decided on a course of action and moved forward to embrace the Wastelander. 

Red froze. It had been a some time since they had felt a familiar touch. They had had their companions give them affectionate pats on the shoulder or small punches in play, but nothing like this. They had forgotten how warm and soft it was. Before they could react Kent stepped back and gave a small smile while still gripping their arms. “I cannot thank you enough for this Red. I would love to stay up and talk more with you, but you must be tired.” 

The cowboy didn't know how to respond as they were still trying to process the physical contact. They nodded slowly while gathering up there stuff almost mechanically. “Yeah I need to go...to sleep.” They shuffled out of the door as Kent smiled behind them. 

“See you later friend and thanks again.” He shut the door behind Red and they just stood there for a few minutes before mumbling and shuffling down the steps. When did their heart start beating so fast? 

“Yeah...see you.” They almost tripped down the steps before they wandered over to The Rail without anyone noticing their state. They sat their bag down by the bar and sat next to Hancock. 

“Hey there cowboy, you're a bit early. How was your little rendezvous?” Redtail just stared at the bottles behind the bar with a blank expression. “Whoa, you okay?” He waved a hand in front of their face before shaking their shoulder. “Earth to Red. Did something happen?” 

Red jumped when Hancock touched their shoulder and turned to him sharply. “Ah, what?” Hancock stared at them seriously for a few seconds. “Oh, no, nothing happened.” Their face darkened as they remembered what had happened. Get a hold of yourself Red, it was a hug. A totally platonic, very nice, warm, kind, hug. Hancock gave them a disbelieving look up and down before slowly taking a drink. “I think I want to date Kent.” Hancock almost spit out his drink, but manged to swallow it before coughing a few times. 

He pounded his chest. “A-re are you sure? Okay, let me rephrase that. You know I was joking before when I was ribbing you about Kent right?” 

Red set their head down on the bar before responding. “This is all your fault. I didn't think about it until you suggested it and then I realized you were right!” 

Hancock took another drink looked smug. “Wow, really? Think I should advertise my services? 'Mayor/Match Maker'.” 

The cowboy sat up and slammed their hands on the bar. “Hancock, this is serious!” 

Hancock put his hands up in mock surrender. “It's really not, relax. You're already friends, makes it much easier. With your natural charisma and...some other second thing you also have, you'll be fine.” Red stared at them intensely until he looked away sheepishly. “Also, I cant really help...I haven't dated anyone since I was eighteen, so...” 

The cowboy groaned and slammed their head back down onto the counter.


	2. When Red Realizes Their In Deep

Early the next morning. Red boomed into Nick's office, stirring the stale, smoke filled air. “Nick!” Being aware of Red's extreme energy and tendency to get overly excited, the synth simply leaned back from the case file he was perusing and addressed his partner smoothly. 

“Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry, did you say something? You really should speak up.” Red didn't even acknowledge his snark as they approached the desk and slammed their hands down onto it. 

“You know about people, right?” Nick took a long drag before responding. 

“I'd like to think so.” He vaguely wondered were this was going. 

Red nodded decisively. “Good!” They pulled up the chair normally reserved for clients and sat down in it sharply. “How do I get a date?” 

This threw Nick slightly. He was aware of Red's tendency for mood swings and their ability to get excited about seemingly trivial things, but he wasn't expecting to play match maker. He attempted to search through old Nick's memory's to find something useful to no avail. His world weariness would seem to have fallen short in this area. He couldn't show that though, so the synth simply shrugged and took a drag on his cigarette to buy himself time. He let out a long puff before replying. “Flowers.” 

Red stood up with a conviction that almost made their chair tip over. “Great idea! Thanks Nick!” They then turned and stormed back through Nick's door. The synth adjusted his grip slightly on his cigarette. His partner put a whirlwind to shame when they got in the mood. Said whirlwind quickly walked back in through the door and thoughtfully pulled the chair back up to Nick's desk. They started talking in a very quiet and quick voice. “Where am I supposed to find flowers in an irradiated wasteland? How do I tell him? Do I tell him before or after the flowers? What if he says no? I want to still be his friend, but what if I mess up and he doesn't like me at all even as a friend anymore?” By this time the cowboy was beginning to bite their nails through their glove. 

Nick had to physically restrain himself from rolling his eyes and tried to treat this with the gravitas that their partner seemed to think it deserved. He leaned over his desk and patted them on the shoulder with a small smile. “Don't over think it, partner. Just go with the flow.” 

Red let out a dramatic groan before thumping their head down on the old wooden desk in front of them. “I can do this. I have punched lots of things. I can do this.” 

Nick tapped a bit of ash off of his cigarette. “Are you planning on punching...?” 

The cowboy's head snapped up sharply. “No! I would never hurt Kent. He's so nice and cu-” They tried to cut themselves off with a fake coughing fit, but it soon turned into a real coughing fit from the dust around the office, leaving them laying their head back down on the desk with a sigh. 

The synth took a long drag on his smoke while shooting a sympathetic look at his partner's head. “You alright there?” 

Red put up a weak thumbs up before sitting back in their seat limply. “Flowers?” 

Nick nodded before leaning back in his chair. “Flowers.” 

The cowboy trudged out of the office with a small wave. “Thanks.” 

The detective tipped his hat with a smile. “Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nick doesn't get payed enough for this


	3. When Red Realizes Their Serious

Red's mind couldn't stop moving. Unfortunately, it wasn't the usual string of logical beginning-to-end reasoning, but more a large mash-up of all their worries and insecurities. They gripped the stems of the broc flowers they had gathered tighter. They had picked all they could. So much so that it was slightly hard to hold them all at once. The stems were started to get crinkled and bend, but the cowboy was to focused on the door in front of them to notice. They sucked in a huge breath and let it out sharply before suddenly raising their hand and slamming it down on the door. 

They immediately regretted this decision and were about to run back down the stairs when the door unfortunately opened. Red froze like a dear in the headlights and immediately lost their voice. Kent saw them and smiled warmly. “Good to see you again, Red. I was hoping you'd stop by again so I could show you the new Silver Shroud episodes. I figured you deserved a sneak peek for finding them.” Red's eyes just flicked back and forth across the ghoul's face anxiously. The radio fanatic found it a little odd that the cowboy was so quite, but stepped back and invited them in anyway. 

Kent shut the door behind them before walking over to his work bench and setting up the reel to be played. “So, do you want me to give you a synopsis first or do you want to just listen?” They looked over to see Red still standing in front of the door and staring down as the flowers they were holding intently. The ghoul walked over to them slowly. “Hey Red, a-are you okay?” 

The cowboy's head snapped up suddenly, causing Kent to jump slightly. They seemed to struggle with themselves before blurting out. “Heymaybedoyouwannadateme!?” It came out rather loud, very jumbled, was followed up by the flowers being shoved forward, and Red nearly hiding their face in their neckerchief. Kent looked down at the flowers and then back up at his friend with a puzzled expression. “U-um...I'm sorry. What did you say? I couldn't quite...” 

Red breathed in shakily and tried to stop themselves from fidgeting. “Do. You want. To. Uh. Date me?” They fought against themselves to keep their eyes on their object of affection and not flitting about the room. They motioned the flowers forward once more. 

Kent looked down at the flowers again before their mouth broke into a painful looking smile. “Ha...that's...that's a funny joke.” He flicked one of the flowers in the bouquet halfheartedly. “The f-flowers were a nice touch, heh.” The look on his face seemed a few moments from breaking into tears. 

Red's shoulders dropped in confusion. Joke? It was their turn to have their face crumble up slightly. “You think I'm joking? No I...want to-” Their voice hitched slightly and they looked down at their wilted mass of foliage. “You...you're fun to talk to and you're so kind and...” They looked into the wrinkled face of their friend as they leaned forward slightly. “I wouldn't joke about something like this, Kent.” The ghoul's false smile began to crack and fade as his eyes started to fill with tears. 

His shoulders sagged as he tried to keep a smile on his face. “Oh. R-really?” Red lowered the flowers in alarm. They hadn't meant to make him cry and certainly weren't trying to make fun of him. They set the flowers down on a nearby table and grabbed the ghoul's arms. 

“Oh no, Kent, I didn't mean to make you cry. I-I'm sorry I didn't-” They went with what they felt was right and wrapped the ghoul in their arms while rubbing his back. “S'okay. I didn't mean to make you feel bad.” 

Kent was trying to speak at this point, but couldn't quite manage it through his emotion. He instead opted to return the embrace and put his head on Red's shoulder. It took a few minutes, but his tears stopped. They stepped back from each other, but Red was reluctant to stop comforting their friend, so they kept their hands on his arms for support. 

The ghoul looked at the flowers on the table and hiccuped slightly. “No, I'm sorry, I d-did't mean to start crying like that, heheh.” He let out an uneasy laugh and looked back at Red, focusing on their red scarf instead of their face. “I wasn't expecting you to do that. For anyone to do th-that, actually.” He took a deep breath before looking Red in the eyes through their sun glasses. “If you're still okay with it, I'd be very happy with d-dating you.” 

Red's face began to heat up as a smile split it. They held Kent's hands harder and could hardly contain their happiness. “Great! The flowers are for you, by the way. That was probably obvious, but I just wanted to make sure. Communication is key in a relationship, I think so...” They slowly drifted off into silence at the realization that they were now dating someone. They hadn't been this happy in a long time. They often seemed chipper and excited outwardly, but there inner feelings were often much more melancholy. This happiness went deeper, feeling warm and fulfilling in their soul. 

They simply looked at each other for a few moments before Kent broke the stare and coughed. “Do...do you want to um, listen to the Silver Shroud, still?” Red nodded excitedly as the ghoul broke away and went back to his recording set up. “Uh, give me a second.” The cowboy went and sat down at the table in the center of the room feeling like they were lighter then air. They were content to watch their new boyfriend fiddle with his machines. 

They might have held hands throughout the entirety of the episodes, but that was their business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then they kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to drop me a line!  
> http://hawkscape.tumblr.com/  
> https://www.youtube.com/c/HawkScape  
> http://hawkscape.deviantart.com/


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